Organizing Your Documents to Write a Better, Faster First Draft

Brazilians have a saying: "If you organize it properly, everyone can get it on!" Their exact words are a little more colorful, but the idea is the same. By organizing really well before you act you can make sure nothing gets left out and every aspect of your work gets to shine. For writers, this advice is especially relevant when it comes to the first draft.

The worst thing in the world a writer can face is a blank page. The amount of possibilities for how to start a new project are terrifying. Every writer has their own method for getting a story out, but if you want to write scripts faster here is what I do to get to a first draft.

I ORGANIZE. By organizing your thoughts before you start writing your script you can maximize your output while completely avoiding the blank page altogether. This is how I do it:

I get an idea for a story and start writing it down in a document file on my computer. Usually, it's either the Pages app on my Macbook Pro or Google Docs. I call this file "Notebook" and place it inside a greater file that has the title of my project. This notebook has all the details of the story in it, from characters and logline to logistics of the story and even images and music that inspire me. Below is a sample from one of my notebooks:

I don't always fill out the notebook before starting the next step, which is creating a beat sheet, but I like to at least have the basics of the main characters and what the story is about. Hot tip: Always keep your table of contents open so you can jump to what you're looking for quickly.

The beat sheet starts as a skeleton of the story. I start it in my notebook, but sometimes paste it into a new document so I don't get lost in all the notebook pages. I include only the larger beats of the story, similar to the Save The Cat beat sheet: Act One, Act Two, Act Three, the inciting incident that gets the story started, midpoint, all is lost moment, etc. If you're not sure about how to create a beat sheet do a search or read Save The Cat. It's an incredibly valuable organizing tool.

When I have a solid beat sheet I copy and paste it into a new document called "Outline." I start filling in extra details of the story that help get the characters from act to act. I'm only describing the scenes of the story here. I don't add dialogue unless it's really important or I have a line that I absolutely love. I separate scenes into paragraphs as I go along. Sometimes at this stage I'll have a sequence of continuous scenes that I write as one paragraph. But generally, if there's a location or time change I start a new paragraph.

At this point I look at the paragraphs and see if my mini story makes sense. It really is a short story version of my script. I'll explain what the character wants and whether they get it in the scene. I explain their emotions and thoughts. If everything is in place, I start adding scene headings.

This step is similar to creating note cards for your scenes. I like to see them laid out on the computer instead of on paper, but they work the same way.

I include what day it is in my outline as an extra organizational tool. It comes in handy when you're creating a ticking clock for your hero and you want to remember how many days or hours they have left before they succeed or fail.

I make this outline as detailed as possible before I ever start my script. The more I know about each scene the better my first draft will be. But I still haven't included dialogue. When I'm finally sure that every detail of the story (that I have thought of until this point) is there in the outline, I'm ready to copy the outline and paste (or import as text document) into my screenwriting software.

When you paste your outline into your first draft, you start with dozens of pages instead of a blank screen. You have scenes ready for dialogue. You're already well on your way to a first draft! Start plugging in lines of dialogue and character descriptions. You'll find the writing moves smoother because you already have all the details of what you want to accomplish in each scene.

If you get stuck in your script, take a moment to go back to your outline and add any scenes that you created in your draft. Reread your new outline to see if everything flows, or if there's a problem with the structure. It's much easier to see in the outline than in the script.

And if you ever forget a detail, it'll be right there in your notebook. This comes in handy with more complex scripts that require a lot of research, but it's also useful for fellowship applications. You can keep sections for themes and summaries in your notebook so you don't have to start from scratch with every new pitch and application.

I hope this helps you get those scripts out faster and better. If this worked for you or if you have any questions leave a comment!

---

Holly Holstein is a Los Angeles based writer with over ten years creating content. She writes independent reviews and articles and is not compensated for her posts. If you enjoy her articles, please sign up to become a member!